ASU men’s golf hits the breaks in Illinois with an 8th place finish

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

Only three days after the Arizona State men’s golf claimed victory in the beautiful peaks of Utah at the Wohali Classic, the team skied down the mountains and found itself in the sprawling plains outside of Chicago, Illinois, for the Fighting Illini Invitational at the Olympia Fields Country Club.

The Maroon and Gold looked to continue their winning streak after back-to-back wins to start the season, but concluded the tournament Sunday with an eighth-place finish.

After the first two sets of 18 holes, head coach Matt Thurmond’s squad entered the final round in sixth place. While a win was a long shot with Florida holding a commanding eleven-under-par lead, the Sun Devils wanted to ensure they either held their ground or gained places by the end of the day.

Once again, it was the talented juniors, Connor Williams and Fifa Laopakdee, who helped guide the team in the right direction. Each junior carded a one-under performance in the final round, with both players making up eight of the eleven birdies accumulated by the team.

Unfortunately, senior Michael Mjaaseth and freshman Bowen Mauss were unable to repeat the success of the juniors, as each of them finished two over par on the day, which dropped the team two places to close the tournament. The Maroon and Gold had high hopes for Mjaaseth since he delivered an impressive three-under par performance in the second round, but Mjaaseth’s good fortune faded away in the closing round.

While this tournament was not the strongest performance for the Sun Devils, there were still positive takeaways to walk away with. Firstly, Williams extended his impressive play by finishing inside the top-15 for the third straight tournament. He shot 72-70-70, which was enough to place him tied for ninth out of 75 total players.

Williams delivered eleven birdies, which was the third most out of any player, and this illustrates his ability to capitalize on good shots. Still, he’ll be looking to clean up the bogey department and limit those setbacks.

Laopakdee had an eerily similar performance this week as he did last time out at the Wohali classic. He finished 68-73-69, which tied him for 17th place, and was one place better than he finished at Wohali.

Similarly, Laopakdee started the tournament firing on all cylinders in the first round, hit a bump in the road in the second round, and then returned to his quality ways in the final round. His score accounted for each and every single round, which demonstrates that even when he is not performing to his best, he is still a valuable asset to the team.

The Sun Devils will have an eight-day break before they’re back on the tee at the Ben Hogan Collegiate in Fort Worth, Texas. They’ll aim to recover with this well-deserved break after winning two of their first three tournaments and showcasing the high ceiling that this group possesses. Heading into the next tournament, Thurmond will be hoping that the freshmen of Boston Bracken and Mauss will perform better in hopes of returning to the top of the leaderboard.